1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an article that retains cylindrical bodies to a structure. More specifically, the invention relates to an article for retaining bolts to a workpiece in a particular orientation until the bolt is needed to be secured to the workpiece.
2. Description of the Related Art
During assembly and manufacturing processes, bolts and other fasteners are often required to be positioned within the pieces they are to fasten or secure prior to the need to secure the pieces. If the bolts are not secured in place, it becomes difficult to change the pieces"" orientation without having the bolts fall out of the bores in which they have been placed.
Another problem with bolts is they often have to be manually inserted into position due to the shape and size thereof. It is difficult to automate these procedures due to the difficulty of handling the bolts.
U.S. Pat. Re. No. 36,164 addresses this concern by disclosing a bolt retainer. The bolt retainer is designed to be slightly larger than the bore into which it is being inserted and to be slightly smaller inner diameter than the outer diameter of the bolt it is designed to hold. It does so by creating concave and convex sections that extend inwardly and outwardly, respectively, when taking the side view perspective. While this bolt retainer aids in the positioning of the bolt, it does not do so with enough force. Further, the bolt retainer lacks an outwardly extending piece that would aid in the handling of the bolt.
A bolt retaining article retains a bolt within a bore of a structure prior to the bolt being threadingly engaged within the bore. The bolt retaining article includes a tubular body that extends through a longitudinal axis and defining an inner diameter and an outer diameter. The tubular body includes a plurality of concave sections and a plurality of convex sections. Each of the plurality of concave sections are disposed adjacent each of the plurality of convex sections. An engaging arm extends outwardly from said tubular body to secure the bolt retaining article to the structure. The bolt retainer article is adapted to receive the bolt therethrough to prevent the bolt from falling out and away from the structure.